Posted on

Insights from the Pavement: Embracing the process of emotional release

All too often we find ourselves denying our bodies and minds the peace and comfort of simply letting go of societal pressures and embracing our true emotions.  It’s apparent that travel seemingly forces us to do this at many turns.  But what about when we’re in our home lives?  Generally we’re expected to be emotionless unless that emotion happens to agree with the mood of the room.

Why is this?  Where did this start?  And why is it that sacrificing our natural inclination toward response and release for the good of the group is seen as the expected notion?

Fireboy15_resize

This can come from a variety of sources and for a variety of factors.  The most prominent is, oddly enough, our friends and family.  Those closest to us are the most effective vehicles for transmitting those unspoken messages specifically because they share such a deep and interactive relationship.

Generally speaking – and even without any spoken confirmation – we are expected to keep up a certain level of pretense with those around us.  Even our most intimate of friends may still have a deeply engrained sense of what we “should” act like or how we “ought to” react to given situations.  And this isn’t always the first, natural reaction that our bodies may feel the need to express.

Another source of this can be our profession.  At the workplace, it’s frowned upon to see an employee expressing themselves in a manner that is not ultimately adding to the productivity of their job.  And while this is understandable, it still doesn’t mean that we should deny our natural inclination to get out our feelings as they happen.

It is when we keep our emotions bottled up inside that we have the most trouble and this can lead to anxiety, sleep loss, unhealthy weight loss, bad eating habits and more.  And because of all these related health and personal risks, we miss work, over sleep and come to work late, can’t pay attention during working hours and on and on.  And that’s just on the productivity end.  So is it really the best thing to do to keep these items pent up inside?  How good for productivity is that, in the end?

There are many other instances where our need to express ourselves comes at times when others simply don’t want to hear it.  But we should always remember that when our friends find themselves facing emotionally heightened circumstances, they are sure to remember how we offered them an open and comfortable forum for expressing their emotions when it’s time for us to ask the same of them.

And this is a universal concern that faces every country in the world.  There’s no escaping it.  And because there is also no escaping our need for emotion release, it is wise to take time to find creative ways to express these emotions.

Traveling, itself, can be an amazing release of stress.  But even on the road, there needs to be a continuum of options for getting out our frustrations.  Journaling, meditating, exercising, running – even sleeping – can all be great ways to calm the mind and attain balance.

No matter if we find ourselves on the road or at the office, taking a moment or planning a future moment when the time is right to get that release is of the utmost importance.

Follow me on twitter: @cyleodonnell

Like the photo from this journal?  Click HERE to visit the album from Thailand’s Andaman coast.

Posted on

Insights from the Pavement: Placing Ourselves along the Path

Not withstanding a spiritual base, we are beings of forethought and of memory.  We can mentally transport back in time or forward in thought to places of fondness or profundity.  But it is impossible for us to physically experience anything outside of our immediate surroundings.  Because of that, our only true reality is found in the present moment.

The good news is that we all have the ability to make that particular moment mean something – minute to minute, if we choose.  And this opens the floodgates to a sea of possibilities.  We can find ourselves at any place on earth – barring few exceptions.  And if we realize that it is only ourselves that stand in the way of making our current moment a positive and enjoyable one, we will be much more likely to take the reins and be the change that we wish to see in the world.

oblonglookoutsunset_resize

While our governments and our communities have regulations, this life has no rules governing our movement or our creativity.  We are free to live it as we choose; to go where we wish; to make the memories that we choose to make; to create or to appreciate the creations of others; to learn or to teach; to explore or settle down.  We can do this with partners or all alone.  This journey can last decades or just moments.  It’s completely up to us.

This may sound like an intimidating responsibility.  But once we accept the idea that we all have this responsibility and, more importantly, that we have always had it, it becomes much less threatening.  And it’s not always applicable to the heavy decisions that our lives encounter.  But it’s nevertheless ubiquitous and it constantly influences which path we choose to take.

Many times I’ve wished that someone could make the hard choices in my life for me.  It would be so much nicer to just let go of the responsibility.  And I am sure I share this sentiment with many others.  But we, alone, make the choices along the path we take.  And therefore we are the ones who benefit from the grand and distinctive results that these choices place in our lives.  And in that, we are not only made better from our time facing these challenges, we also become much more intimately aware of our placement along the path that our lives reveal to us.

Knowing, appreciating and embracing this will do more to free us up for the positive changes in our lives than any other conscious action we can make.  And never are we more aware of these opportunities than during our time moving about the world, experiencing new cultures, taking in strange, new surroundings and exploring each moment along this path with veracity and enthusiasm.

–

Like this photo from this journal? Check out the album HERE.

My new book, Insights from the Pavement, is a collection of 101 Travel Oms just like this one. Look for it to be released soon.

Join the conversation, tell me what you think about this idea. Leave your comments below.